


Welcome to Planet Valian

by Approachingthedogpark



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Carlos is a space travelling dork, Cecil and Carlos are soulmates, Cecil is an alien, Drunken Shenanigans, I both know where I'm going with this and also don't, M/M, SCIFI AU, also my sense of humor is crap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-07-19
Packaged: 2018-01-17 13:01:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1388587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Approachingthedogpark/pseuds/Approachingthedogpark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is based off a Science Fiction Welcome to Night Vale AU by Oxytreza/Oxytrezart on tumblr! Here we meet Carlos, the head science officer of the ship Stella555, who goes with his crew to explore the new Planet Valian. What he expects is a lot of things to explore and maybe accidentally pissing off the natives, what he doesn’t expect is a one-night stand with royalty, an angry guard and unwanted sex advice from his Captain for ‘the good of inter-planetary relations’.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Scifi AU](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/42562) by Oxytrezart. 



> After getting a significant amount of notes of my writing on tumblr I finally got enough courage to actually put it on a fanfic site! Keep in mind this is unbeta'd, and if you see anything really, really bad please tell me! I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it! =)
> 
> EDIT: This is no longer unbeta'd! I'd like to give a special thank you to Danes for offering to look through and fix my chapters as well as beta for the rest of the fic! You are awesome!

Carlos remembered the start of the party, when he was sitting with his fellow crewmates. He remembered the drink; something purple and unnatural looking that seemed to sparkle and shine in a way much like the Valian night sky. He remembered tasting it, so sweet and cloying. He remembered the pleasant burn as it went down his throat and made his stomach and face warm.

What he didn’t remember was going to bed with the young man currently cuddled up against him.

Carlos closed his eyes and ignored the pounding headache, thinking back to the events before the party.

****

“Captain’s log: Star date June 15th, 2243,” Pamela Winchell, Captain of the Stella555 noted to herself as she sat in her chair. “As per our orders, we are headed toward a newly discovered planet; It is beautiful, like a purple marble against the darkness of space, I-“

“You know, you don’t have to say those things out loud like we’re in some stupid science fiction show,” Dr.Williams, the head medical officer on the ship scolded as he looked over a clipboard. Pamela just gave him a withering look.

“Fine.” She grumbled something about old washed-up doctors ruining her fun and got onto the loud speaker.

 _“Attention Crew: We will be landing in around ten minutes, please prepare for landing and…”_ She sighed. _“Please, be on your best behavior.”_

Carlos felt his face flush. Even though he was in his office, he still felt as if Captain Winchell’s eyes were on him. His second-in-command gave a snort of laughter and Carlos let his head hit his desk.

“It was only once,” he groaned, “and she will never let me forget it.”

“Their emperor was made up of a polychloroprene membrane and helium. He was literally a freakin’ party balloon and you got near him with a pointy pen and started doing calculations on him,” Steve reminded him, eyebrow raised in a condescending manner as he cleaned his glasses.

“I was doing calculations for science,” Carlos mumbled. “I also had no idea it was the emperor. I couldn’t even find a post-it note and I needed to remember those figures!”

“And it wasn’t only once. Remember the time that you dropped Teddy’s favorite bowling ball into the Glycene’s sacred blood pool? Does that one not count? Because that should totally count.”

“Okay, first of all, who brings their bowling ball into space? Let alone their favorite one? Second of all, you saw how congealed that blood was! One of their high priestesses was able to walk over it barefoot! I just wanted to see how much weight it could take!”

“For science?” Steve asked.

“For science,” Carlos echoed in response.

“How about the time with the Serene planet? Where you wouldn’t make eye contact with their chief so they thought we were signaling an act of aggression? Was that for science?”

Carlos groaned, running a hand over his face. “I get really shy around attractive… beings!” Carlos had no time to check if they even had gender because they were very busy running away for their lives, so ‘beings’ was the best word to go with.

The objective of the crew of the Stella555 was to chart out the unknown, explore new planets and befriend them on behalf of the human race. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a very good track record when it came to friendship; if it wasn’t one incident it was another, and what was first an idealistic mission full of hope for the future was now becoming a lost cause.

Steve just chuckled to himself, adjusting his glasses. “Keep that up and I’m gonna be promoted.”

“Like you want the responsibility of my job, Carlsberg,” Carlos grumbled.

“That’s why I keep you alive and mostly off Captain Pamela’s radar, sir,” Steve said, eyes oddly serious. “So I don’t have to deal with all the superior officer bullshit.”

Carlos was about to say something back when the intercom went off once more and they felt the familiar rumbling of the ship hitting the atmosphere.

They had arrived.

****

“This is it. You stay behind me. Don’t say a word. Don’t do anything. Just. Stay. Behind me,” Captain Winchell hissed at Carlos as they walked off the ship, the rest of the crew following behind. Carlos wanted to say it wasn’t like he messed up on purpose, but he decided to just listen to her; he couldn’t mess up when there was so many new things to research here. There was so much good to do for the sake of science, so he kept his mouth shut and his eyes straight ahead.

They made their way into the large city, passing several guards that stood still in their presence, wearing body-covering outfits and armor. Carlos almost felt sorry for them; only ten minutes in this heat and sweat was already beading on his forehead. The Captain spoke to the steely-faced guards, and the two in front nodded and said that they would escort them to the palace.

The architecture was impressive; beautiful, grand buildings and marble. He even saw a few large temples on the way with hooded figures ambling into it. As his feet moved across the sidewalk Carlos could only think of the city as some sort of old-meets-new affair. The buildings seemed as if they had been standing for generations, but there was also a wealth of technology mixed in. A large screen took up their square, everyone seemed to have some sort of device, and Carlos counted two large biomes that held parks that were nearly bursting with fauna.

Carlos was grateful when they finally entered the palace. The heat outside melted into cool, brisk air, chilling the sweat on his skin. He instinctually rubbed his arms and looked around. The high ceilings and walls made Carlos and the crew seem so small in comparison. He fought the urge to go and touch the tapestries hanging from the walls; they looked to be made of silk and all were a royal purple with a strange looking eye in its center. As if knowing he was about to stray, the captain turned to give him a glare before they entered the throne room.

Whatever happened to make the King happy to see them was completely lost on Carlos, because the second his eyes trailed to the king, they immediately slid away to the young man standing just slightly behind him who was introduced as ‘Prince Cecil’.

Their eyes locked and Carlos froze as something strange came over him. He wanted to say his heart stopped, like some sort of shock, but it was really going a mile a minute.

The man was tall and lean, and wore a long white tunic skirt way too well for it to be legal. It clung to his body, and he could see the skin of his legs poking out from the slits of the skirt all the way up to his midthigh. The native also had twirling elaborate tattoos all over his body, some on his exposed stomach swirled and twisted up to hide under the short top.

The accented purple on the white outfit and gems that adorned the gold bands on his wrists and ankles really made his violet eyes stand out. Speaking of eyes, Carlos realized that Cecil was staring back. He wasn’t smiling, but it also wasn’t a look of distaste either. Carlos felt oddly okay with that gaze on him, his usual instinct of looking away and avoiding the attractive male’s line of gaze didn’t come, he just continued to stare. It was as if time stopped, Carlos was frozen with his gaze fixed on the crown Prince.

“Wonderful!” the king’s voice boomed, making Carlos jump out of his reverie. “This is a cause for celebration! We will have a feast!”

****

And so the party happened, he took every drink that was offered to him, and that left him here. Carlos repeated the facts in his head once more.

 _“I am Carlos, head science officer on the Stella555…”_ Prince Cecil groans and snuggles happily against his chest in his sleep. Carlos sighs. _“And I am so fucked.”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos says he is going to do one thing and does the opposite. He learns that Native Valian's well often invade his personal space, and then comes to a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cut this in half on tumblr, but here it should be perfectly acceptable to mush the two parts together..please tell me if my formatting is strange, okay?  
> Thanks to Danes for being my beta! =D

It took Carlos a half an hour to uncurl from Cecil, find his clothes, and tiptoe out of the room to find the guestroom that he had been given during their stay. In those thirty minutes he found out that A) it wasn’t a trick of the light, Cecil’s blush was actually a very dark shade of purple, and his tattoos were all over his body, B) Cecil slept like the dead. He even stubbed his toe and cursed on the way out, but all the native being did was murmur something in his sleep and roll over. And last of all, C) his room was way too close to the Prince’s room, just past two rooms down the hall.

Carlos stumbled into the room and immediately went to the attached bathroom, gulping fresh water from the sink greedily. Whatever was in the drink he had last night was ridiculously strong and he was more than a little bit dehydrated.

He flinched as something fell from his head and landed onto the sink with a gentle ‘clink’. Looking up, he saw the golden headdress with amethyst jewels that Cecil had been wearing last night, now hanging on the faucet. It must have been tangled in his hair which was, at the moment, a rat’s nest of curls and knots.

He had a sudden flashback of a flushed Cecil giggling and sitting on his lap, placing the circlet atop his head before slipping out of his top, revealing the tattoos that were hiding under the shirt and gold nipple piercings glinting under the light. Carlos remembered pulling Cecil’s torso close, running his lips all over the pale chest, clasping one of Cecil’s piercings between his teeth and tugging gently.

Oh Newton, he was in deep.

He quickly started and got into the shower, letting the hot water rush over him, hoping to clean both his body and thoughts. The white noise helped his headache and soothed his muscles, and he sighed at the comfort.

Worst case scenario, he’ll be punished for sullying the Prince by being ritualistically sacrificed at one of their ominous black temples. Best case scenario… uh…

Wait a second. Did anyone even know what they did? He was so worried about what everyone else was thinking, but maybe they didn’t even know anything at all! That thought kept him hopeful. If he could just speak to Cecil like logical adults he could avoid this whole fiasco.

*****

He was in high spirits throughout his shower and slipped on some clothes as well as his lab coat before heading out to the building-turned-lab that they had been given in the city. It wasn’t too far away from the castle, and it proved to be a nice walk.

The second he came in all the chatter turned to dead silence. That was his first red flag.

His second red flag was when Steve cleared his throat and, said, “Alright everyone, let’s gather round, _Perfect_ Carlos wants our attention.”

Maria, their bio-expert, shook her head. “No no no! I prefer _wonderful_ Carlos.”

“How about _amazing_ Carlos?” said Abir.

“No, I think we should go with _skilled_ , Carlos.” Jackson emphasized ‘skilled’ with a waggle of his eyebrows.

“ _Ingenious_ Carlos!”

“ _Huge_ Carlos and his perfect co-”

“ _ENOUGH_ ,” Carlos groaned, covering his rapidly reddening face. He could hear it, in his head he could hear the echo of Cecil’s voice saying those words. “I… I guess you heard everything?” Carlos asked, face still covered by his hands.

“The real question here is: who didn’t hear everything?” Steve corrected. “By the way if you don’t drop your pants right now we are ripping them off. Got a bet to settle.”

After 20 minutes of violently refusing to take off his pants while trying to ask several awkward questions, Carlos found out that it was most likely the whole palace had heard his ‘raucous lovemaking’, as Abir called it, and none of them had heard from the Captain all day.

“Well, the King didn’t seem fazed over it,” Maria said, trying to console their boss. “Maybe it’s just a thing that happens here often?”

“I don’t think so,” Jackson added unhelpfully, a grimace on his face. “No one else at the feast seemed particularly pleased.”

After a while the chatter finally died down and they got down to business; starting tomorrow they would voyage beyond the walls of the city to collect samples of plant-life and insects from the jungle.   
They took this day off to recuperate (Carlos was happy to see he wasn’t the only hungover one in the room) and would regroup in the morning before heading out.

*****

As Carlos traveled back to the palace, he regaled his second-in-command with what happened in the morning.

Steve cleared his throat, finally done laughing at his superior officer’s predicament. “So, what are you going to do now?”

Carlos ran a hand through his hair, reciting what went through his head for the past few hours. “Well, I’m going to have to see what this all meant to him and explain that it can’t happen again. We’re only here for a month at the most, and I have things to do. Whether he expected more from this or not, I’m going to have to cut him off.”

Steve whistled. “I’m impressed. That is the logical thing to do.”

“Of course. I’m a scientist first and foremost. A man of logic. I can methodize and calculate and come up with procedures to get the results I want in no time flat.” Carlos’s voice grew more confident as he continued with his little speech.

“You may be a scientist, but you are also Carlos, which means you can’t talk to a pretty guy without mentally prepping yourself for about 5 hours,” Steve snorted as he looked ahead, a funny grin on his face, “and you are gonna see him in 5 seconds.”

“Oh, Carlos!”

Carlos nearly jumped in surprise when he heard the Prince call out his name. Cecil had just left the throne room and the two guards flanking either side of door he’d walked through gave the prince a slight bow. Carlos swallowed and made quick work of the space between them, Steve following behind.

“Where did you go? I didn’t see you this morning and I was concerned. The drinking last night wasn’t too much for you, was it? Were you ill?” Cecil asked, worry on his face as both of his hands took one of Carlos’s.

Carlos bit the inside of his cheek, he couldn’t tell him he ran out of his room in a panic now could he? “Oh, your majesty, I’m sorry. I had an early morning, you see, w-with science and all.”

“Carlos,” Cecil chastised. “Please, call me Cecil. We are way past formalities, are we not?”

The smile that Cecil gave him made his heart flutter in his chest. “R-right. Of course. Uh, Ce-cecil.”

The glares that the two soldiers were giving Carlos had the opposite effect. It seemed that although the prince insisted he just call him Cecil, the guards preferred he would not. Steve gave an amused laugh that he seemed to think he covered up well with a fake cough.

Urgh, he couldn’t have a conversation here, he’d have to get Cecil alone. Then he could speak to him and turn him down gently. At Steve’s cough, Cecil looked over at him.

“Oh, are you still doing science things, then? Am I bothering you?”

“No, not at all!” Carlos shook his head. “In fact, Mr.Carlsberg was just leaving.”

Steve gave him an amused look, a shit-eating grin slipping onto his face. “Yeah, sure, of course.” He gave a little bow to Cecil, mimicking the guardsmen at the door. “Excuse me, your majesty.”

Carlos watched him leave and cleared his throat, looking over the Prince. He looked just as he did the day before when they met; bangles and tattoos and well-placed silk flowing beautifully off his body. Well, except for one thing.

“Oh! I have your umm…” Carlos gestures to his own head. “You know, crown. Back in my room. We should go get it.”

Carlos was grateful that Cecil nodded in agreement at his ineloquent statement instead of staring at him like the buffoon he was. They walked down the hall together, Cecil still holding Carlos’s hand.

*****

Carlos plucked the circlet from his nightstand where he had left it and turned to face Cecil. He had fully intended to hand it to him, ask him to sit on the bed and have a long talk. However, when he turned around Cecil smiled and bent his head down, looking up at Carlos through his long lashes in a way that made the scientist’s heart stop.

“If you would please?” Cecil requested, and Carlos couldn’t say no.

He gently, reverently placed the crown atop Cecil’s head with both hands, his fingers trailing through his hair and down his face. Cecil hummed in approval and closed his eyes, nuzzling against one of his palms.

Carlos’s breath hitched in his throat. This is where he should pull away. Should say it was time to talk. Tell Cecil he wasn’t interested.

But then Cecil gave him a look, like he was the only person in the world worth looking at, and gave a gentle kiss upon his palm. The feeling in his chest that was getting all too familiar grew inside him. He found himself pulling the prince forward, bringing his lips to his in a sweet kiss.

It didn’t take long for the chaste kiss to turn into a filthy one, filled with tongue and quiet, breathy moans from both parties involved. Hands began to wander and in a flurry of movement Carlos had Cecil pinned to his bed and was grinding against him roughly. Mewls and moans spilled from the Prince’s kiss-bruised lips as he more than happily ground back, one of his hands tugging at Carlos’s hair to pull him closer as if he was going to bring him down for another fervent kiss, but he stopped short, lips nearly touching, their breath mingling together and making Carlos’s lips tingle.

“Oh Carlos,” Cecil purred, eyes locked with his as he placed one of his hands on Carlos’ chest. “Isn’t this feeling amazing?”

Carlos couldn’t help but agree; rutting against the prince like a horny teenager certainly was amazing. But the way Cecil said it, the way he looked into his eyes and put his hand over his heart made him think he meant something _more_.

Carlos didn’t get a chance to respond. A second later there was a loud knocking at his door.

“Your Majesty?” a male voice called clearly through the door. “Are you in there? You know Old Witch Josie hates it when you’re late for your divination classes.”

Carlos stopped all movements and Cecil pulled himself out from under him to stand and fix his rumpled clothing.

“Yes, I’m here!” Cecil grumbled. “Though I don’t know what the point of me going is; I don’t have the _Sight_ like mother. Josie’s Angels can wave as many talisman’s and orbs as they like in my face, I just sit there bored and don’t see a thing.”

Carlos stood and Cecil looked him over quickly to make sure he was decent before calling to whoever was beyond the door once again.

“You may come in.”

The door opened to reveal a tall, muscled man wearing the common soldier outfit, covered from head to toe so the only thing remotely discernable about the man were his eyes, an eerie light blue. His eyes looked over at Carlos coldly, but softened when they landed on the prince.

“I know you dislike them, but your brother-“

“My brother could divine. I can’t.” Cecil’s tone was like ice as he glared up at the other man. “I can’t and will never be able to. Do not bring up my brother Earl. You know better than that.”

Carlos could see the soldier- Earl- flinch behind the cloth that covered his face. His eyes crinkled slightly. “Of course, I apologize.”

Cecil took Carlos’s hand, squeezing it gently. “I’ll be back later. Perhaps then we can spend more time together then? I would really like that.” Cecil gave him a kiss on the cheek and Carlos could only nod dumbly as he watched the Prince leave the room.

After a minute of staring at where Cecil used to be, Carlos realized that Earl hadn’t left with him. His cold, blue eyes were back on him and Carlos felt the silence grow thick and awkward. The only thing that could be heard was Cecil walking down the hallway away from his room.

Earl stepped towards him, his eyes so intense that Carlos continued to back up away from him till his back hit the wall. Earl remained well within his personal space, towering over him and slammed his hands on either side of the scientists head, making him jump.

“Listen here and listen well. Prince Cecil may be an adult, but he is naïve. You are only staying here for a short amount of time and when you leave it’s going to break his heart. He is fully convinced that you’re his- his…” He can tell by the way his eyes are crinkling that Earl has clenched his jaw tight, grimacing as if whatever words he’s trying to say are bitter on his tongue. “Just _stay away_ from him.”

Earl pulls away after saying his piece and turns to face the door before looking back at Carlos. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you, Mr. Carlos the scientist.” And before Carlos can tell him that isn’t his name, Earl was out the door.

*****

“So now you’re Perfect Mister Carlos the Scientist. More to add to your title. Great,” Steve said, not at all impressed. He held a smoking cigarette held between his fingers and hit his index finger lightly against the cigarette, flicking a little ash onto the grass much to an angry gardeners chagrin.

Steve had gotten kicked out of the palace for trying to smoke in his room so they were sitting outside in the palace’s garden instead, going over what had happened. It was filled to the brim with flowers and even had its own hedge maze, but the two preferred to sit in the grass instead of try to look around.

“Is that what you got from the story?” Carlos asked through gritted teeth, clearly exasperated. He had played out what happened when he was with Cecil-censoring the dirty business, which, let’s be honest was about half of it- and Steve was acting as if he had told him about a trip to the market.

“Well, that and this Cecil guy is apparently very persuasive? Also, what was that about the sight?” Steve already had a mini tablet out from his pocket, carefully placed it on his lap and began to type on it with one hand. “And a brother… I’m gonna look into the royal family, see what I can find.”

“What about helping me with my problem?” Carlos nearly whined. He usually wasn’t like this. He was able to think about more important things instead of dwell on social problems, but Cecil grabbed at his attention like a row of bubbling Erlenmeyer flasks would.

“Oh, that? Um, how about you grow a backbone?” Steve teased. “Oh! You can do that thing you did in school where you tell the guy that you can’t hang out because your have ‘science’ to do and then not call him for weeks. That’s what you usually do to break up with them, right?”

There was an awkward silence for a moment, where Carlos gaped like a fish out of water and lowered his head.

“..Not on purpose,” Carlos mumbled, his face growing hot. The fact that he had messed up so many times that Steve thought it was some sort of break-up strategy really said a lot about his love life.

“Oh. Um, wow. Seriously though, how hard is it to just say no?”

Carlos was afraid that Steve was about to find out, because Cecil was coming up to them, a bright grin on his face.

“Carlos, I have returned! And I have a surprise for you; a sciencey surprise!” Cecil was nearly bouncing on his heels as he spoke, and Carlos couldn’t help but pick up on his excitement, an equally goofy grin blossoming on his face.

Cecil let his bright smile turn to Steve instead. “That is, Mr.Carlsberg, if you would let me steal Carlos away?”

“Oh, hey, don’t look at me.” Steve waved his hand as if waving away the entire situation, carefully balancing his tablet with one knee as he moved. “It’s all up to Carlos. He’s the boss. Though I think he did say something about checking a specimen in our lab back at the ship?”

Steve was giving him an out, something he had done before for him many times. He appreciated that, and he knew he should quickly decline Cecil’s offer and go on with his day like the soldier Earl told him to, but the flicker of disappointment that crossed Cecil’s face made him speak without thinking.

“No, it’s not too important. I can check that out later.”

As he was dragged away, he turned back to Steve. His second-in-command just stared after him with his mouth gaping open, the cigarette in his hand burning to the filter.

*****

Carlos was dragged back to the palace and into the throne room. It was his second time in the room and the last time he was there he was so… distracted, that he hadn’t had the time to look around. It was past midday, and since they apparently held council in the early mornings everyone had left except for one person.

The throne room actually held two thrones; in the second, at the right hand of the king, sat a strange woman. She held herself high and her eyes were vacant, milky and unseeing, her eyebrows furrowed together as if listening to something far off that she couldn’t quite hear.

“Oh! Mother.” Cecil breathed, moving up the last few steps to kneel at her side. “What are you doing here? Council is long over.”

The women’s facial expression didn’t change, but she did rest a hand atop Cecil’s head in a form of acknowledgment.

Cecil may have gotten his tan skin tone and fair hair from his father, but he’d gotten his bone structure from his mother. Where the King was muscled and stocky with a jovial demeanor, she was tall and lithe and held herself with an air of royalty and great strength, although she seemed so fragile. Her hair was long, falling about mid-back, and was as dark as the swirling black tattoos that were all over her body.

Something about her was making Carlos uncomfortable. It was probably the fact that although it didn’t look like she could actually see, her eyes seemed to trail over him with intent. The queen got up and stepped to him quickly, her hands holding his face steady. She spoke quickly to him, her milky eyes boring into his. Most of it was indecipherable, and he could only pull out bits and pieces of sentences.

“-time of union is coming- will you be prepared?”

She let go of him as quickly as she had grabbed him and left the throne room, leaving as silent and listless as a ghost.

Carlos couldn’t help but wonder why every native being on this planet wanted to invade his personal space. He turned to Cecil for answers, but the man just chuckled. “Only here one day and she spoke prophecy to you already! Mother must really like you!” Cecil seemed really pleased.

“Prophecy?” he asked, his voice coming out much less wobbly than he thought it would.

“Mmhmm.” Cecil was dragging him by the hand once more, beyond the king’s throne to the door situated behind it. “She has the _Sight_. It helps her to divine the future. Nearly always knows when I’m getting into trouble too.”

Cecil quickly typed in a code to the number pad next to the door and it opened with a quiet hiss. Before Carlos could really ask any more questions on the matter, the prince gestures for to Carlos to follow behind him and walked in.

The room is small, circular and bitter cold, with a strange black pedestal in the middle. On the pedestal is a large red marble-like stone that was about the size of Teddy’s bowling ball (may it rest in peace). The stone seemed to glow a dim red light, illuminating the black wires that were attached to it. Carlos noted that most came out of the floor to snake up the pillar and attach to it, and a dozen or so draped down from the ceiling. Computer screens and keyboards litter the walls, all with various readings. His eyes scanned the screens and realized they were all doing upkeep on something: Bloodstone.exe.

Cecil spoke again, quiet and subdued, as if he didn’t want to break the concentration of the computers.

“This is the blood stone. You see, a long, long time ago our planet was dying. We didn’t know what to do, but our greatest scholars and scientists came together and created this.” Cecil gestures to the glowing red stone. “However, it’s been so long that we hardly know anything about it, let alone how to replicate it. Most people just pray to it now, as if that makes it continue to function. It is basically a religious symbol and, obviously, very important to our lives.”

Carlos let out a breathy ‘wow’. There must be incredible technology hidden inside that sphere, but the way Cecil said ‘scholars’ implied that there was more; maybe the magic that seemed so prevalent in their society? His mind raced with all the things that he could do with this knowledge. It had so much potential to do good; they could settle on any planet they like when their sun eventually dies. They could cure famine on any world. Cecil’s voice cut through his rapid thoughts.

“Which is why I’m going to ask the King to give you permission to study it.”

Carlos turned to the man, mouth open but unsure what to say. “You… you would do that?”

Cecil gave a quiet “hmm” in acknowledgment, his eyes on the stone and not Carlos for once. “I think it would be best. Everyone here feels it is taboo to do so much as touch it. I firmly believe we need outsiders to head up the research so there is no bias. Plus, it would be beneficial for both of us, would it not?” There was a glint in Cecil’s eyes that Carlos hadn’t seen before; he was smarter than he let on.

Carlos was still flabbergasted. “Cecil, this… this is the most precious thing on your whole planet and you’d let me put my hands on it?”

“Oh Carlos.” Cecil sighed out as if he just said a silly joke. He looked up at Carlos, his hand reaching up to touch the scientist’s face. “Of course. I would trust you with my life.”

There was that feeling in his chest again; it reminded him of the first time he drank too much champagne; all bubbly and warm and stupidly happy. Carlos should have been afraid; he had only known Cecil for a day, and they had hardly spoken! How could the prince trust him so completely? Instead he melted into the touch because when he looked into his eyes, he knew that Cecil was telling the truth, and when he tilted his head down to give him a gentle kiss he realized that maybe he trusted him the same way.

*****

When they left the throne room Carlos’s eyes caught a very agitated looking Steve Carlsberg’s. He seemed to have been pacing the hallway for quite some time. When he saw Carlos he nearly ran over, his hands fidgeting at his sides and his eyes searching around, as if waiting for something to leap from the shadows.

“We need to talk, urgent science business. Pronto.” Steve ground out, looking between Carlos and Cecil before just looking at Carlos.

“Um, your majesty, if you’ll excuse us,” Carlos said, putting on the formality even though he knew that Cecil wouldn’t be happy. There were people around and the thought of Earl or any of the other guards hearing him speak to the prince so casually made him feel nervous.

Cecil nodded, his face full of concern. “Fair enough, I did drag you away from him before. I hope everything is alright.”

“Yeah, sure, thanks,” Steve added quickly before swiftly walking away. Carlos had to pick up his pace to catch up to him.

“Hey, so, what’s up? You seem stressed,” Carlos asked.

“Yeah, shouldn’t you be too? Or did you finally get to tell the prince that you weren’t interested?” Steve’s eyes were dark as he asked, scrutinizing Carlos in a way that he hadn’t been since he was little and his mom came in to ask who ate the ice cream from the freezer when they knew it was nearly dinner time.

“Well, no, but I honestly don’t think I want to now. He’s been so wonderful, and the more we talk the more I think that maybe, I don’t know-“

Carlos’ vision went white for a moment and he let out a yelp as Steve’s fist made contact with his face, the impact making a sharp noise of skin hitting skin echo through the large hallway. Carlos’s head jerked back and he placed a hand on his already reddening cheek. “Holy shit Steve, what the hell!?”

Steve grabbed him by the shoulders and began to shake him frantically, his voice a hysterical hiss between teeth.

“Listen. To. Me. I did some asking around. This crazy prince, Cecil? He may not have this _Sight_ but he has the _Voice_. That means that he can use his speech to coerce people into doing whatever he wants! He’s using you, man!”

Carlos was grateful when Steve stopped shaking him; he had enough to worry about. His chest felt like it had caved in and his right cheek was stinging still. All he could manage was a numb, “What?”

Steve brought out his mini tablet to show him the information that he had found, a picture of Cecil with his stats and upbringing fully written up on the tablet. A full explanation of the Voice entailed ‘hypnosis’, but all it said was that it compelled people to listen, nothing as outrageous as Steve was claiming.

“He’s like some crazy siren alien thing who will talk you into devoting your whole life to him and then devour you! Open your eyes! You have never acted this way before Carlos, he’s changing you!”

Carlos was aware that his second-in-command was…well, paranoid put it lightly. The man’s quarters were full of books of theories that he had written down since he was in middle school about crazy potato men in outer-space ready for war and the government creating strange weather problems. Needless to say Carlos wasn’t the only one who has ruined trips to new planets by being a complete idiot.

He knew not to take his conspiracies too seriously, but he couldn’t help but take a part of this one to heart; what if Cecil was using his voice on him, and the only reason he liked spending time with him was because he was being manipulated to?

That would explain why he was always so pleased to talk to him, that strange full warm feeling in his chest from being around Cecil could have been a fabrication. It would also explain why he felt so compelled to touch and be all over the native when his sex drive was usually so easily pushed to the side for other things.

A few of the royal guards started to walk down the hall and Steve brought his voice to a low whisper. “Just… just stay away from him okay? I’ll keep looking into things.” He gave Carlos a pleading look before giving a gentle squeeze to his shoulder and walking off.

When he was sure that everyone had left the hallway, Carlos slid down the wall till his body hit the ground and just sat there, his head in his hands. He was so confused; he liked Cecil, he was a nice person, would he really do that? Control someone with just his voice like it was no big deal?

He took a deep breath through his nose and let it out through his mouth. He was a scientist, first and foremost, and knew that when his heart rivaled his head that his head should always come up on top, so he reflected on the facts instead of the heavy weight he felt pushing down on his shoulders. That was the second time today that someone told him not to go near Cecil, and although they both had different reasons, he thought it was about time to take their advice.


	3. Chapter 3

_“_ Sorry, your majesty, but I can’t spend time with you today. You see I’m very busy with, well, science!” Carlos gestured to his gloves and satchel, which was filled with plastic bags, beakers, pipettes- anything to help him take a sample. They had actually just been about to leave the lab and take samples of specimens from the jungle area outside of the city when Cecil had come by to see him, Earl (he could tell it was him by his towering frame and bright angry eyes) as his guard.

He thought Cecil would be angry or upset, because who says no to a Prince? However, he just smiled and nodded in understanding.

“Ah, of course! I wouldn’t want to get in between you and your scientific endeavors. Please, by all means, do what you need to do! Maybe when you are less busy we could spend some time together?” Cecil’s whole demeanor screamed hopeful, topped off with a wide smile and bright eyes.

Carlos averted his gaze to the ground. “Y-yeah. Sure, but I may be busy for a while.” He watched Cecil walk away with a feeling of regret pooling in his stomach.

Once they reached the jungle, Steve was at his side as they started to collect plants and bugs. Despite the fact that twenty minutes had passed from when he spoke to Cecil, Steve was still giving him a withering look. “You're an idiot.”

“What?” Carlos said defensively, absently smacking at his arm where a very angry mosquito-looking thing just took a nibble of him. Steve’s look was a hundred times more annoying than any bug bite. “I said no.”

“You said that you were _busy_. That is different than ‘no’. I bet he’s gonna come back, and you're gonna make another sorry-ass excuse . He’ll just keep coming back, and then he’ll use his voice on you, and you’ll end up in some hypnotic state and kill us-!"

“Steve. Focus.” Carlos sighed. “I can’t just say no. What if he gets mad? I don’t want to be the one that messes up the mission again.”

Steve’s scolding turned to inaudible grumbles soon enough, and they all set off in their own work. Soon, Carlos was so into his work that hours passed like minutes.

 “Oh, he’s back,” Abir whispered to Carlos, about 4 hours after they started to work. Carlos gave a noncommittal grunt and looked over subtly. Cecil stood by a tree not too far away, watching as he bounced on his heels.

“Ignore him. He’ll go away soon enough,” he muttered. Abir gave him a look of concern; he sighed and looked up to give her his full attention. “Trust me, I’m sure he’ll get bored and move onto someone else when he sees how boring I am.”

Carlos was wrong. Every day for the next 4 days Cecil came back, and every day Carlos gave the same excuse. It wasn’t a lie; he really was quite busy. The plants alone were taking up most of his time; he didn’t even stop for showers or for meals, preferring to live off the protein bars that they had brought in from the ship. The longest he stopped to do anything else was to pour himself a coffee and scratch at his right arm, which for some reason had grown to be unbearably itchy.

After the fourth day of rejection, Cecil gave a nod to Carlos and a tight smile, promising to visit tomorrow, or later when he was less busy. Carlos watched him leave, remorse heavy in his chest. Once he was sure the prince wouldn’t see he let his forehead hit the desk and he let out a groan.

While Cecil seemed as composed as ever, everything was beginning to piss Carlos off. The whispering of his colleagues, the sound of charcoal on paper, even the taste of his coffee was like ash in his mouth and he constantly had a sad, dull ache in the center of his chest. Even worse was the fact that everyone kept looking at him like he was some sad, trapped zoo animal. The mix of sympathy and concern on their faces made him want to flip his desk and scream.

“Hey man.” Steve called out in greeting, patting his superior on the back. His voice was full of pity. Carlos hated it.

 “It’s okay, I get it; you’re all out of it because of that tyrant. Listen, staying away from him is the best thing that you can do, I’m sure. It’s like…like when you are having withdrawal from a drug. You just gotta fight it, and then everything will be okay.”

With each word, Carlos’ muscles tightened, he ground his teeth so hard he felt the pressure in his ears and finally he snapped. His chair clattered to the ground as he stood up and whirled on Steve. “Withdrawal, huh?!” He quickly slipped his hand into Steve’s lab coat pocket and pulled out his cigarette carton, shaking it in front of the man’s face. “Well, how about we go cold turkey together in solidarity!?”

Carlos threw the carton onto the desk and began to stab it repeatedly with scalpel he already held in his hands. He didn’t stop till he was sure every single cigarette was completely unusable, then he tossed the whole broken box into the hazardous waste disposal unit and stalked back to his desk.

It took him 2 hours of silence before he realized what he had done may have been a little over-dramatic, but by that time the other scientists had decided to give him a wide berth, and Steve was nowhere to be seen.

****

“Hey, wake up.”

Carlos snorted awake, rubbing his face to get the sleep out of his eyes. The laboratory they were given was a nice place with a few couches that he could use as a makeshift bed, so he'd been napping on one; just thirty minutes so his eyes would stop blurring and he could get back to taking notes. It was comfy, even though the place seemed to get steadily hotter each day. He’d have to ask who was playing with the thermostat.

Carlos looked up into the eyes of Earl, shining in the light of the setting sun. He was surprised to see the soldier had taken off his standard balaclava, and was even more surprised that such a strong voice came with sharp cheekbones and full lips. If they were still on earth, Carlos would have pegged him as being of African descent.

“What do you want?” Carlos snapped at the man. He was living off fumes; he was so hot that he had taken off the lab coat that he was using for a blanket as well as his shirt, and had been ignoring Cecil for several days which in itself was somehow causing a crazy amount of strain. Every day he saw him he wanted to stop, if only for ten or fifteen minutes, to hold him close, to let Cecil pet his hair and whisper sweet words in his ear, but he didn’t.

 “Cec-- the Prince is very unhappy.” Earl pursed his lips together, as if he wanted to say more, but had stopped himself.

Carlos glared at the man. “Not my problem. You told me to stay away. I’m doing exactly what you wanted so you have no right to complain.” He seriously doubted that the Prince was ‘unhappy’ anyway; he always seemed to greet Carlos with a bright smile in the morning, and, when he said no, he would just walk off like it was nothing. Maybe he was just sulking because his toy wasn’t playing with him. “If he’s pouting, you can deal with it.”

Carlos curled back onto his couch and closed his eyes, letting the soldier know that the conversation was over.

“He’s not pouting, he’s- urgh!” Earl hit the arm of the couch, making the whole thing vibrate under Carlos but he didn’t so much as move. “You obviously don’t care about him! Stupid emotionless scientist! I don’t know why he even worries about you; stay here with your instruments and rot!”

Carlos listened to Earl stomped his way of the lab quite loudly, grumbling to himself. He would have given the conversation more thought, but he was exhausted. He let his eyes close, willed away the throbbing in the back of his head and went to sleep.

****

“Carlos, I really think you should take a break today,” came Cecil’s voice to his right. He had shown up for the fifth day, and Carlos was more than a little impressed at his persistence, but he didn’t turn to look at him. He was busy writing notes on a specimen, and he found that when he turned his head left and right the steadily growing headache he had tended to increase, as did the throbbing he felt in the back of his eyes.

“Sorry, I can’t... I... science,” Carlos mumbled, his voice barely a rumble from his chest. How long had it been since he’d spoken? Probably since Earl had come in yesterday. Since he had flipped at Steve yesterday, no one spoke to him, unless they were asking questions about what he was studying, and even that hardly happened.

Cecil’s hand gently reached out and caressed his cheek. Carlos tried to pretend he didn’t notice, but the hand was so cold against his skin that it was nearly painful. Maybe it had to do with strange Valian biology.

“Carlos...” Cecil breathed. “You’re really _hot_.”

A hysterical giggle bubbled out of Carlos’ throat. “Really? Is now the right time for that?” he chastised, his voice colder than he had meant it to be. He was already sure Cecil just wanted him for his body, but this was ridiculous.

“No, you don’t understand. Carlos, please...” Cecil spoke, but tapered off.

There was a sigh, followed by the jangling of Cecil’s jewelry as he walked a little ways away and spoke to one of his guards. The sinking feeling in his stomach when Cecil left hadn’t abated over the days he rejected the man. Maybe this was the day he decided he wasn’t going to come back? The thought made Carlos’ already frazzled body ache.

“Will you at least look at me when you say no?” Cecil’s voice was hardly above a whisper, but Carlos heard it. He felt his heart clench painfully in his chest, but he chose to say nothing. The thought of looking up into those eyes and telling him no again was too much to take. Cecil let out a disgruntled noise and stomped his foot on the ground.

“ _Carlos the scientist!”_ Carlos felt his whole body freeze. His stomach clenched and he turned his head, suddenly compelled to look away from his work and at the prince.  _“You have not slept or eaten right in days! I demand that you stop your sciencing **immediately** and come back to the palace to rest!”_

Everyone was silent. His chatty scientists, the guards that came with Cecil, even the normal bustling from outside was muted and Carlos knew why; that was the _voice_. He had never heard anything like that before; had never been so drawn to something in his whole life. The whole world was grey and silent except for Cecil, who seemed even more radiant than he usually did. The prince’s whole posture had changed. He stood taller, his chin raised and a look of intense concentration on his face.

The look didn’t last long. Cecil sighed and released the tension in his shoulders, the world coming back into existence in awed whispers from the people around him. Cecil held his arms out toward Carlos, beseeching him. “Please,” he begged, his voice quiet, back to normal. “Please Carlos, I’m worried for you. Let me take you back home.”

Carlos got up from his stool and took two steps toward Cecil and his waiting arms, but the pounding heat in his head grew to be too much. He saw the floor come up to meet him before everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, this chapter is a little short <3 But I thought it was an appropriate place to leave off, hehe  
> (please don't hate me)
> 
> <3 Did I mention that I love you guys? 'Cause I love you guys. =) 
> 
> Your comments and kudos give me life! Feel free to come chat about how much you hate me for this chapter at approachingthedogpark.tumblr.com!
> 
> Special thanks to Danes for being my beta, thanks for putting up with my typos and inconsistencies! XD


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos wakes up and there are explanations. Also sex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took forever! Honestly, I'm not the best at chapter fics, and I tend to write way too much per chapter and fret over it and..well, anyway, it's out now! I hope you enjoy!

Carlos could hear mumbled, concerned whispers, but couldn’t comprehend what they were saying. He should get up, but the bed under him was so comfortable. He was sinking into the soft mattress, and he couldn’t so much as open his eyes. Everything hurt so much; a dull, pounding ache that normally was reserved for his temples during migraines was throbbing through his body, his face scorching hot with fever.

He felt a comfortingly cool hand on his cheek and sighed, leaning into the touch.

“Mama, if I die, tell Dante he can’t have my room.” He managed to rasp. His throat was so dry, he swallowed and continued “And..and..hand in my homework, I tried really hard on it. Will you bury me with the grade?”

 _“Hush now. You won’t be dying today,”_ came the voice from above. Even though it was distorted by the dull pounding in his head, Carlos knew it wasn’t his mom. He felt cool glass against his lips, and one word from above: ‘ _Drink’_. He did so, the wonderfully crisp water soothing his throat. Soon he drifted off to sleep again, to a dream of a world with his team of scientists, his danger meter and one sweet-voiced prince.

*****

Even with his foggy mind, when Carlos woke up he quickly realized that he was not in his childhood room back on earth like he had assumed. He let out a groan at the familiar situation; once again he was wrapped up in the silk sheets of the prince’s canopy bed, albeit slightly more clothed- he had managed to retain his Pajama bottoms. This time he didn’t have anyone curled up beside him. Cecil sat in an armchair at the side of the bed, his arms folded onto the mattress and his head resting upon them.

Tentatively, Carlos reached his hand out and ran his fingers through the prince’s hair. “Cecil.” He called quietly, his voice weak and gravely.

Cecil stirred after a little more coaxing and lifted his head, sleepy eyes trailing all over Carlos. “Oh, thank the Void you’re awake.” He smiled and took the hand that had been petting his hair, pressing his lips against it.

“Weren’t we just at the lab?” Carlos asked, brow furrowing as he tried to remember the last thing that happened.

“Were were at your lab about..” Cecil paused in though “two days ago? You passed out from fatigue and a virus that was in your system.” The hand holding Carlos’ tightened and Cecil turned it to reveal the fading purple bruise on Carlos’ arm that he had been scratching at over the past week.

“Apparently one of our culi bugs bit you. You have something similar on Earth. Thank goodness Dr.Williams came in when you collapsed; he noticed the symptoms immediately.”

Carlos let silence fall between them as he absorbed the information. He had been unconscious for two whole days? Had Cecil been here all this time? What was his crew doing?

Cecil’s trembling voice cut through his thoughts. “When you collapsed, for a second I thought I had hurt you because I used my _Voice_. That maybe your human eardrums couldn’t take it and I had deafened you, or worse.” A sniffle broke the explanation, and Cecil let out a sob mixed with a relieved laugh.

“I’m so glad that I didn’t bring any harm to you. I’m so glad and so sorry.” Tears were freely falling down his cheeks now, leaving damp trails down his face and falling onto the bed sheets. “If I had realized you were sick earlier you could have gotten treatment. I know you are a scientist and scientists are self-reliant,” Carlos winced, he’d used that line the second day Cecil had come to check up on him “ so I didn’t want to bother you, but you must have gotten worse as the days went by and I just let it happen. I’m awful.”

Carlos’ hear clenched in his chest; he felt terrible for making Cecil worry when clearly he only had good intentions at heart. The fact that he came by everyday to check on him and make sure he was alright without ever really crowding his space said a lot about him. The prince wasn’t some spoiled brat who got what he wanted whenever he wanted, he truly cared.

 Carlos ignored the pit of self-loathing in his stomach and pulled Cecil into the bed with him, holding him against his chest. As Cecil curled up against him, biting down on his own lower lip to stop his sniffles, Carlos relaxed against the prince and stroked his back. How could have possibly thought for a second that Cecil was the malevolent royal that Steve had painted him out to be?

“No Cecil, I’m the one who should be sorry.” Carlos whispered, holding the sobbing prince in his arms and burying his face into the prince’s blonde hair. He fought the shiver that racked his body at the scent that assaulted his nose when he did. He was finally holding Cecil, something he wanted to do for the past five days and, guilt aside? It felt _amazing_. “There is something I need to tell you.”

Carlos confessed everything. He told the prince about the feeling in his chest, how he learned about the _Voice_ , and even admitted to purposefully ignoring Cecil. Carlos’ heart sunk as the revelation made Cecil tense against him, as if he was a second away from pushing away from him and throwing himself from the bed.

“I’m telling you this because I don’t want to lose you. I’m sorry for making you sad Cecil; I can’t stand seeing you like this.”

Cecil looked up at him, violet eyes serious. “But you don’t know why,” he stated. “You don’t know _anything_.”

Carlos felt his face flush under Cecil’s gaze and accusatory tone. “W-well… define anything. I know _things_... I know how the Stella555 jumps through hyperspace; I know how long it takes the two moons around your planet to make a revolution around Valian, and how they affect the tides… I just don’t know why, when I look at you, I want to hold onto you and never let go.”

“Carlos, if you only said this earlier.” Cecil heaved a sigh, a small smile easing onto his face. He was calming down, the tears tracks were drying on his cheeks. “Listen, what we are is… Well, I suppose your term for it would be soul mates?”

Carlos opened his mouth to speak, shut it, and then opened it up again, but he couldn’t think of anything to say to that. He couldn’t deny the connection that they shared. The urge to stay close to the prince, and the way he felt when they were apart brought a painful loneliness that he had never imagined possible. However, some part of his brain just couldn’t accept it either. He wanted to talk it out and theorize, but his head still hurt and his mind was still foggy from the broken fever.

Cecil seemed to notice this and pressed a kiss to Carlos’ forehead. “Rest now, we can talk later. I promise I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Carlos hummed in agreement and closed his eyes. He held Cecil close to his chest as he, for the first time in seven days, got a good night’s sleep.

*****

When Carlos woke up next, it was to the cold realization that Cecil had broken his promise. The prince was no longer beside him in the bed. Carlos placed his hand where he remembered Cecil laying and it still felt warmer than normal, so a body must have been next to his not too long ago.

He heard quiet murmurs and sat up so he could look around the room, the silk sheets sliding off his shoulders and pooling into his lap. At the doorway was the lithe outline of Cecil, silhouetted from the light outside the hallway. Carlos’ eyes stung from the transition; the bedroom was bathed in darkness, and the light outside pierced his retinas. Cecil was leaning forward to speak to another figure, taller than him by nearly a foot, and in the outfit of the royal guard, the hair jutting out from the back of the balaclava was a clear indication that it was Earl.

Their faces were barely an inch apart as they spoke and Carlos tried to fight back a sting of jealousy; what could they possibly need to say with their faces so close? He tried to listen, but he could only make out something about a ‘union’. The word rang in his head familiar, although he couldn’t place where and why it would be.

They spoke for a moment longer before Earl ruffled Cecil’s hair and left. Cecil turned back to Carlos after he shut the door, and his face went from serious to a gentle smile when he saw his guest was awake.

“Sorry, did we wake you up? I was trying to be as quiet as possible.” The prince whispered, sliding back into the bed and wrapping his arms around Carlos. The skin-on-skin contact of Cecil’s bare chest against his side made him feel comforted and warm, like when he put his lab coat on right out of the dryer.

Carlos shook his head and curled up against him with a happy sigh, his head resting on Cecil’s shoulder. He hummed appreciatively as the prince stroked his hair. It was nice to lie like this, to just be able to lay together without yelling scientists and judging eyes. He wanted to bring up the whole ‘soul mate’ thing, but he also didn’t, not quite yet. Not when they were finally having a quiet moment together and he wasn’t sleepy,  or confused.

“When you were at the height of your fever you mentioned someone named Dante. Who is that?” Cecil asked, finally breaking the silence.

Carlos thought back to when he had awoken and thought that he had been in his childhood home, and for a moment, he felt a pang of homesickness. “Dante is my stepbrother. When my mom re-married he came with my stepdad. He was a terror,” Carlos chuckled. “really smart, just like me. It was nice to have someone to talk to but he always got us in so much trouble.”

Cecil nuzzled his face into Carlos’ hair “Will you tell me about it?”

And so Carlos did. He told him about his life before he was part of the Stella555 crew, he explained that he was into science even when he was very small, and how Dante had come along and they would accidentally wreck rooms in their house and school classrooms in the name of science.

During the story Cecil would give little ‘hmms’ as encouragement, but mostly stayed quiet, just listening. When Carlos was done, Cecil smiled wistfully.

“I had a brother too, a twin. He was…very different from me, although we were almost physically indistinguishable from each other. Three years ago he went into the jungle with his bodyguard and never returned.” There was a heavy silence and Cecil looked down at the sheets, playing with the silk fabric. Carlos took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

The gesture seemed enough to help Cecil continue. “I was so mad. My mother acted exactly the same as she usually did, like nothing was wrong. My father constantly held searches in the forest, but no one could find a trace of him. Mother had the _Sight_ , why didn’t she use it to track him down? It wasn’t until a month later that she collapsed. She and Josie had been looking for him relentlessly through the nights with every trick in her scrolls, but she hadn’t wanted to get my hopes up. Those with the _Sight_ can’t track others with it if they don’t want to be found or have…passed on.” Carlos gave Cecil’s hand another squeeze, he could see the raw pain in Cecil’s eyes, but he had no idea how to make him feel better.

“W-would you like to hear about earth?” Carlos asked softly and Cecil looked up at him with a smile.

“I would love to.”

*****

For the next few days they stayed together in Cecil’s room. Their days consisted of curling up in Cecil’s sheets and talking about their lives. Occasionally Cecil would feed Carlos and check his temperature, and they would bathe in Cecil’s luxuriously large tub. Sometimes Cecil would leave, but Carlos would take those moments to nap and rest, or his team would come in to speak to him about their ongoing projects. He wanted to say that it didn’t bother him that Steve never came for the visits, but that would be a lie. His second-in-command sent liaisons instead, and they looked just as uncomfortable as Carlos felt.

During their time together, Carlos told Cecil about his mother, his stepfather, and his real father who would send a hologram card on his birthdays but never called. All this talk about earth would normally have made him feel homesick, but being with Cecil seemed to make him more excited than sad. He wanted to go home and have his mother’s cooking, sure, but he wanted to take Cecil with him so he could try it.

Cecil in turn told Carlos about how he spent his days being groomed to rule the kingdom along with his brother. He spoke about his dad and how his endless optimism helped counteract his mother’s constant gloominess. Thanks to Kevin’s disappearance he was basically forced to stay in the castle unless he left with a full group of guards. He mentioned Earl on countless occasions, an old friend and a constant person in his life. Carlos tried to keep his face neutral when the guard was brought up.

*****

On his last day of bed rest, when Carlos was finally comfortable and healthy enough, he brought up what Cecil had said about soul mates.

“Well, the thing about soul mates,” Cecil paused for a second, biting his lip in thought, “Is that they don’t always happen, which is okay. It doesn’t make any relationship you have less meaningful. Sometimes you just don’t find them, but If you do…” The prince smiled sheepishly and placed his hand on Carlos’ chest. “Well, you know what happens. Most couples are so excited to meet each other that they may not leave bed for weeks. The feeling is really strong at first and then, well, you don’t really get used to it. You just get more subtle about being all over each other,” he chuckled.

“My mother and father are soul mates. It may not seem like it sometimes, but when they are together and they hold hands… Well, you can just tell that they are both so happy. Oh! Also, skin-on-skin contact with your mate helps the healing process. Hence, this.” Cecil gestured to himself and Carlos nodded, once again taking in the picture of the prince’s perfect chest, and the golden hoops piercing his nipples standing out so beautifully against his skin, the perfect V of his pelvic bone half hidden in the low-waist loin cloth.

The scientist took a few seconds to arrange the data in his head. “So…your people have this, but why did I become your soul mate if I’m another species?”

Cecil tilted his head, as if confused “Um, _everyone_ has a soul mate Carlos.” Carlos was beginning to understand that tone came with a silent ‘duh’ at the end. “You can just feel the  reaction better here. You can call it whatever you like. It’s the atmosphere; maybe it’s different on earth? I’m sure you have seen people who seemed to complete each other right? Like two puzzle pieces slotting together.”

Carlos thought back to his mother and stepfather, and of Abir, how her face lit up when she wrote home to her girlfriend. Heck, even Steve when he shouted ‘quit nagging me, woman!’ into the phone when he finally got around to calling his wife.

“I have.” He smiled fondly; Cecil smiled back and leaned in to give him a kiss. Carlos froze as Cecil’s face grew nearer. “But this soul mate thing is absurd.”

Cecil flinched away from him as if he had been burned, and Carlos immediately tried to retract his statement. “I don’t mean that! It’s just… I’m a scientist, and scientists need proof. I need empirical evidence that-

Cecil huffed in frustration, “All these days together and you still don’t understand? You stubborn scientist!” although his words were scolding and he was clearly frustrated, Cecil was gentle when he bridged the gap between them once again and pressed their lips together. Carlos felt sparks run from the top of his head to the tip of his toes.

“Empirical evidence? I’ll give you empirical evidence.” Cecil breathed the words against Carlos’ lips like they were a threat and his hands ran all over Carlos. Cecil’s fingers dragged through his hair, down his back, the cleft of his ass. They were all gentle touches, nothing forceful, just enough for Carlos to feel a jolt of pleasure before Cecil trailed his hands somewhere else.

In the few days that they had been together in this bed, they had stayed close and cuddled but Cecil had kept his touches light and gentle, playing the tender nurse to Carlos’ patient role. Cecil had never touched him with such obvious intent and the scientist loved it.

Carlos could stay like this forever. Nothing else mattered but Cecil’s hands moving over his body and Cecil’s throaty chuckles when he rubbed a specific spot that made Carlos hum in pleasure. He let out a happy sigh and nuzzled his face against Cecil’s neck, enjoying his warmth.

But then Cecil stopped.

Carlos looked at the prince, a needy whimper passing from his lips before he could even think to fight it back. His cheeks were flush and his whole body was hot in a way he’d never felt it before. He needed Cecil to touch him, the desire so raw that it nearly hurt. Cecil gave him one chaste kiss before pulling away, but he stayed in the bed with him, a knowing grin on his face.

“Perhaps you should rest?” Cecil suggested. “I’m overexerting you. You need your rest if you want to be back on your feet tomorrow.”

“Nooooo,” Carlos whispered in horror, as if someone had just told him all of his lab notes were ripped to shreds. He reached out for Cecil, but the other man just clicked his tongue and wiggled farther away.

“Overexert me. Please overexert me.” He wrapped his arms around the prince in a vice-like grip and went to nuzzle his face into Cecil’s neck again, but the prince would have none of that. Cecil tilted Carlos’ chin up with a hand so they could be eye to eye.

“The empirical data…were the findings significant?” Cecil’s lips quirked upward and Carlos realized that the little devil was smirking at him.

“Yes, yes yes th-the data was significant, my happiness positively correlates with you touching me, so _please_ ,” Carlos admitted, peppering kisses against Cecil’s neck. “Please keep touching me.”

He heard Cecil let out a laugh mixed with a moan and Carlos pulled away from his neck so he could see the exquisite violet flush over Cecil’s tan cheeks, the glossy look in his eyes and his perfect teeth biting into his bottom lip, trying to hide his smile.

Carlos realized in that instant that Cecil was craving his touch as much as Carlos wanted his. Guilt again hit him like a hammer; when Earl said that Cecil was unhappy, he didn’t mean he was off simpering because he didn’t have anyone to play with. Cecil ached with loneliness whenever Carlos wasn’t around, and here he was being stubborn again by doubting him, hurting not just himself but Cecil as well.

The bed shifted as Carlos moved so he was on top of Cecil, his hands laced with his. He looked down at the prince and tried to say something, anything, so that Cecil would know he understood. “I’m yours.” Carlos finally admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. Cecil nodded and gave a kiss to his nose.

“Yes. You’re mine,” Cecil grinned shyly, “and I’m yours.”

Carlos smiled and kissed the prince, hard and rough, he gave Cecil’s hands a squeeze before letting go of them, finally running them over Cecil’s chest like he had wanted to since he saw the prince shirtless. Cecil let out a high-pitched noise of surprise as Carlos started to tug and twist at his nipple piercings, quiet, breathy moans slipping from his lips at each tug.

“C-carlos…” Cecil whined, his body squirming underneath the scientist, who only chuckled.

“Hmm, these are really sensitive aren’t they?” he teased.  Just by flicking the hoops he made Cecil wriggle underneath him. Carlos couldn’t help but admire the purple blush that bloomed across his prince’s cheeks and down his chest.

“Yesss.” Cecil whined, turning his face towards one of his big, fluffy pillows, trying to stifle his moans “It’s so embarrassing.”

Carlos couldn’t help but chuckle. Seeing the ever calm and composed prince writhing under him like a hot mess was the best thing he’d ever seen.

“Don’t be embarrassed, I love it. And you look so beautiful under me.” Cecil looked up at him, still embarrassed but beaming at the praise and Carlos nearly lost it. No one should ever look so cute and sexy at the same time, it was a dangerous combination.

Carlos tugged off Cecil’s loin cloth, reverently, as if unwrapping a present. He marveled at the continuation of Cecil’s tattoos and the wisps of ink swirling around his cock. He recalled being pleasantly surprised at how human the native’s anatomy was. The fact that Cecil had something he was familiar with and knows how to please gave him comfort and confidence. He leaned down, tracing a spiraling tattoo on the prince’s hip with his tongue, and was rewarded when Cecil’s hands ran through his hair and tugged slightly.

“Carlos.” Cecil moaned. Carlos swelled with pride for making Cecil so undone with just a few touches. He ran his tongue on the underside of the prince’s cock before slipping the tip of it into his mouth, sucking and rubbing just under the head with his tongue.

Cecil wailed and gripped Carlos’ hair a bit tighter, before he seemed to realize what he was doing and whispering breathless apologies, hands stroking instead of tugging. Carlos just chuckled, his mouth too full to respond, which made Cecil gasp and tug again.

Soon Carlos started to take Cecil in as far as he could go, so lost in Cecil’s taste and scent that he didn’t realize that the prince had been quiet. That changed when the tip of the cock touched the back of Carlos’ throat. Breathing heavily through his nose, he looked up to gauge the response and was surprised to see Cecil’s blissed-out face looking right into his eyes, his mouth a perfect ‘o’ of pleasure.

He started to bob his head and Cecil couldn’t hold back his voice anymore, every touch bringing a ragged moan or a whispered praise.

“Oohh  your mouth feels _incredible_.”

Carlos hummed at the compliment and continued his work, slipping his hands underneath Cecil to knead his ass as he sucked, noting moisture underneath and between Cecil’s thighs. It had a strange consistency, and Carlos found himself wondering what Valians would possibly sweat out that would be so slick.

“Carlos, Carloooos, you’re so good please _don’t stop_.” Cecil gasped. Carlos nearly growled when Cecil’s nail’s dragged across his scalp. Cecil kept up his mantra of praise and any thoughts he had about Valian biology flew out the window.

Oh, he didn’t plan on stopping, he was going to give Cecil as much pleasure as he could, make him feel amazing to make up for the past few days of avoidance. Soon Cecil was a wailing, sweaty mess, Carlos held his hips still as the prince came, back arching and hands giving a harsh tug to his hair. Carlos happily swallowed the hot cum after Cecil was done and gently let go of the now waning erection.

He smiled at the debauched prince under him and gave one last kiss to his hip before moving back to his usual position on the bed to hold Cecil, stroking the prince’s blonde hair as he calmed from his orgasm.

“Amazing,” Cecil sighed, nuzzling his face against Carlos’ chest. Carlos felt a broad grin slip onto his face at the compliment and the fact that he made Cecil so boneless and happy. A few minutes later Cecil sat up and stretched before gesturing for Carlos to sit up.

Carlos obeyed the request and gasped when Cecil straddled his lap. He found himself groaning as Cecil ground his ass against his still very hard erection and kissed him sweetly.

“Cecil, you don’t have to do this. You’re probably exhausted.” Carlos managed to protest between moans and kisses, though his heart wasn’t really in it. Right now he needed Cecil like the sun needed nuclear fusion reactions to keep burning.

“Shh, sit back. It’s your turn.” Cecil cooed, a finger held against Carlos’ lips. He lifted himself and grabbed Carlos’ cock in his hands to align it with his ass. Carlos started to protest, they hadn’t prepped Cecil and both of them would surely get hurt, but it soon turned out he was wrong. His eyes nearly rolled back into his head as his cock easily slid into Cecil’s hot, tight ass.

They sat there completely still as Cecil adjusted, Carlos’ emotions a mix of euphoria and curiosity. He thought back to the liquid he had felt earlier and was about to ask Cecil if he self-lubricated, but before he could Cecil was moving and it took everything in him to remember his _name_ let alone a question.

The prince continued to ride him, _so full, so perfect, so good_ spilled from his lips between gasps, and Carlos grabbed Cecil’s hips so tightly he was sure he was leaving crescent nail marks in his wake and helped him move. He adjusted himself just slightly in one direction, hitting a spot that made Cecil’s words switch to frantic wails as his nails scratched down Carlos’ chest.

As Cecil rode his cock, Carlos’ heart fluttered frantically in his chest as he watched him move. Carlos felt a sense of completion that had nothing to do with his approaching orgasm. With Cecil at his side, Carlos was complete; they formed together like two puzzle pieces creating a whole picture.  

“Cecil, Cecil, I- _ahh_ -I belong to you, only you. I- _ohgod_ \- you’re so _tight_.” Carlos grunted. He wasn’t going to last long, and Cecil seemed to know it. He grabbed Carlos’ hair and tugged his face forward, smashing their lips together in a fierce kiss before whispering into his ear, breath tickling the shell “Come for me, my Carlos.”

He did as his prince requested, Cecil’s name spilling from his lips as he came hard into his tight body, lights sparked behind Carlos’ eyelids as he closed them and just let everything go. When he came down from his high, Cecil was letting out high keening noises against his neck and was cumming in spurts against both of their stomachs.

Carlos  rubbed Cecil’s back as he collapsed against him, his hazy mind realizing that Cecil’s nails were digging into his shoulders, which meant he had cum without so much as a hand on his cock. They stayed like that for a while longer, until Cecil yawned and murmured something about being sleepy.

They curled up together under the covers, Carlos' chin resting atop Cecil’s head as the prince’s gentle fingers made swirling patterns through his chest hair. Cecil soon fell asleep, quiet snores fell from his mouth as Carlos watched him sleep fondly. Things were going to go a lot smoother now that he understood, well, sort of understood. He'd have to have Cecil explain it again, and he may need more... _empirical evidence_. Carlos closed his eyes, soon succumbing to sleep himself, nuzzled up against the love of his life.


End file.
